Back to results
US 4,070,291 AGranted
Method and apparatus for accelerating the crystallization and removal of tartar from wine
AssigneeHenkell & Co.
InventorOtto R. Rhein
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Loading patent…
Loading patent…
AssigneeHenkell & Co.
InventorOtto R. Rhein
Estimating the term…
A tartarous beverage, such as wine, containing a tartrate to be removed therefrom is conveyed from a storage container through a conduit under pressure into a first module having a semipermeable membrane. The semipermeable membrane forms two streams, a tartrate-free permeate and a concentrate containing a solution of said tartarous beverage and tartrate. The permeate stream is directed from the module through a conduit to a delivery tank. The concentrate may then be conveyed from the first module to a plurality of modules that are serially connected to each other. Each of the modules has an outlet that is connected by an intermediate conduit to an inlet of the adjacent module for the passage of the solution therethrough. The permeate stream exits from each of the modules and is collectively conveyed to the delivery tank. The concentrate is directed through the modules to provide a stronger concentration of the tartrate in the solution. The concentrate is then conveyed to a crystallizer where tartrate crystals are formed. Thereafter, the tartrate crystals are filtered from the tartarous beverage and the tartarous beverage is conducted tartrate free to the delivery tank to be admixed with said permeate to form a tartrate-free beverage. In another embodiment, an inert gas, such as nitrogen, is introduced into the flow of the supersaturated solution to form a plurality of bubbles entrained in the solution to accelerate the tartrate crystallization.
Apparatus for removing tartrate from a tartarous beverage comprising,
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.
Drawings are temporarily unavailable. Open the PDF at USPTO
From the US filing history. Foreign family members aren’t listed.
Crystallisation: general arrangements of crystallisation plant, e.g. flow sheets
Reverse osmosis; Hyperfiltration ; Nanofiltration: reverse osmosis; Hyperfiltration
Separation
Term ended 24 Jan 1995 (estimated)
USPTO file history isn’t available for this patent, so only indexed dates are shown.
1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a method and apparatus for crystallizing tartar during the production of wine and removing the tartar in crystal form from the wine and more particularly to a method and apparatus for accelerating the crystallization of tartar.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Further details and characteristics of the invention will be found in the following description of examples and in the schematic drawings.
FIG. 1 is a schematic arrangement for providing reverse osmosis for the wine.
FIG. 2 is a flow diagram for permeating the supersaturated solution with gas bubbles.
The expression "wine" used in the following description is also intended to include effervescent or foam-like wines such as champagne and the like. It should also be noted that the invention is not intended to be limited to the production of these particular wines but is also suitable for the production of tartarous beverages and generally for expediting the crystal formation of supersaturated solutions.
In FIG. 1 there is generally designated by the numeral 1, apparatus for eliminating the tartar from wine. The apparatus can be connected by means of conduits 2 and 3, to a container A for the wine to be treated and to a container B for the treated wine. The arrow X indicates the direction of flow from container A to container B.
The wine from container A first flows through a metering device 4 to determine the amount of flow through the conduit 2 and the wine is thereafter conveyed through a conduit to the high pressure pump 5. The pump 5 pressurizes the wine prior to its introduction into the first module and can, if desired, have an air chamber or diaphragm to compensate for the pulsations of the pump 5. Also, in the delivery conduit 7 from the pump 5, there is provided a monometer to regulate the pump pressure and to maintain the desired pressure at inlet 9 of first module M.sub.1.